From snow to sunshine: Dual-season Paralympians redefine greatness 

Becoming a Paralympian is a lifetime achievement few can claim. Out of the 8.2 billion people on the planet, only 4,400 para athletes graced the global stage in Paris this year—an elite group of just 0.00005% of humanity.

But for an even rarer subset of these competitors, the journey doesn’t stop at one season.

Now, as the memory of sunny Paris fades, a select group of Paralympians prepares to trade city streets for snow-covered slopes at Milano Cortina 2026. They're part of an extraordinary class of athletes who chase excellence across both the Olympic Summer and Olympic Winter Games, mastering entirely different disciplines in their pursuit of Paralympic glory.

Here’s a look at Para athletes who shone at Beijing 2022 and excelled at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games and what lies ahead for these dual-season trailblazers.

Oksana Masters: rowing, cross-country skiing, biathlon, and cycling.

Oksana Masters, the Ukrainian-born American powerhouse, is arguably the most accomplished dual-season Paralympian in history.

At Paris 2024, she defended her Paralympic road race and individual time trial titles, adding two more gold medals to her unparalleled collection. These victories bring her tally to 19 Paralympic medals across four sports: para rowing, para cross-country skiing, para biathlon and para cycling.

Masters began her Paralympic career on the water, debuting at London 2012 and winning bronze in the trunk and arms mixed double sculls. Just two years later, she transitioned to snow, earning silver and bronze medals in Nordic skiing (biathlon) at Sochi 2014. Cycling followed at Rio 2016, where she narrowly missed the podium with two fourth-place finishes.

However, Masters’ dominance truly began at PyeongChang 2018, where she claimed five medals, including two golds in cross-country skiing. At Tokyo 2020, she returned to cycling, adding two golds and a silver to her résumé. Months later, she dazzled again at Beijing 2022, earning seven medals—three golds and four silvers—in Nordic skiing.

Her mantra, “If you want to do more than one sport, you can do more than one sport,” encapsulates her career, spanning seven Paralympic Games.

As she prepares for Milano Cortina 2026, one question lingers: just how far can Oksana Masters go?

Kendall Gretsch: Thriving in the transitions

Kendall Gretsch, a triathlete, biathlete, and cross-country skier, is no stranger to transitioning between multiple Paralympic disciplines, and fast.

She burst onto the Paralympic stage at PyeongChang 2018, becoming the first American to win a biathlon medal at either the Olympic or Paralympic Games. Her gold in the 6km sitting biathlon was just the beginning, as she also secured gold in the 12km sitting cross-country skiing event.

Gretsch’s versatility shone again at Tokyo 2020, where she competed in para triathlon. In a thrilling race, she edged out reigning world champion Lauren Parker of Australia to win gold in the women’s PTWC2 event, becoming just the fifth American—and only the third American woman—to achieve gold at both the Summer and Winter Paralympics.

At Beijing 2022, she added three more medals to her collection. Most recently, at Paris 2024, Gretsch claimed silver in the PTWC Paratriathlon. “Every competition is a new challenge, but each one prepares you for the next. It’s about finding strength in the transition,” she said, reflecting on her journey.

Dual-Season standouts

While not all reached the podium this time, Paris 2024 also celebrated a remarkable wave of dual-season Para athletes who continue to push boundaries.

Among them was Andrea Eskau of Germany, a legend with seven gold medals spanning both the Summer and Winter Games in para cycling and biathlon. Although the 17-time road world champion narrowly missed the podium in the H5 road race in Paris, her legacy as one of the sport's greats remains untouchable.

Another standout is five-time French Paralympic champion Benjamin Daviet. A 20-time world championship medalist, Daviet has dominated biathlon and cross-country skiing but never imagined himself competing in a Summer Paralympic event, let alone in front of a home crowd. Venturing into Para rowing just one year before Paris 2024, he reflected on the experience:

"Me, the mountaineer, five-time Paralympic champion in cross-country skiing and biathlon, flag bearer for Team France in Beijing in 2022... I have already experienced great moments in my sporting career, but I must admit that this one is special and quite unusual," he shared on social media.

Though he finished fifth in the PR2 Mixed Double Sculls, his willingness to embrace new challenges epitomizes the Paralympic spirit.

American wheelchair racer, biathlete, and cross-country skier Aaron Pike is another familiar name in the Paralympic world. With four Summer and three Winter Games under his belt, Pike finished seventh in the T54 men’s marathon in Paris. As Milano Cortina 2026 approaches, he will be chasing his first medal to hang alongside the 19 medals of his fiancée, Oksana Masters.

Speaking to the IPC about balancing both seasons, Pike remarked: "I have been able to come off of the winter season and get into the racing chair and feel strong within four weeks. I would attribute that to the fact that I have been doing wheelchair racing for about 12 years. Without that long history in the racing chair, it would not be possible. And they are very compatible, luckily."

Ukrainian athlete Pavlo Bal added a bronze medal in the men’s H5 road race to his nation’s tally in Paris, all while balancing his reign as a Para biathlon world champion. Reflecting on the challenges of switching from snow to road, Bal shared:

“It takes consistent hard work, discipline, and desire to win a medal. Moreover, para cycling is a different sport for me. I have just started with it, so I had to work extremely hard to achieve the result.”

He also noted the unique demands of training across seasons:

“Compared to the Winter Games, the whole training process was different. It was more difficult for the simple reason that in winter sports, there is a team around you. As an athlete, you only have to train and show the result. In cycling, my coach and I had to do a lot of organizational work and solve issues because we were the first ones in Ukraine.”

Looking ahead: Milano Cortina

As the snow-covered slopes and icy tracks of Milano Cortina 2026 approach, these dual-season athletes have already set the stage for more electrifying feats. Their summer successes not only enrich their legacies but also inspire a global audience eager to witness the next chapter of their extraordinary journeys.

If Paris 2024 was any indication, these Paralympians will once again lead the charge.